I don’t like that many of the women in the Gospels aren’t given a proper name, so for this sermon, the “woman with the hemorrhage will be named Ruth
Ruth was at the end of her rope. She was on the outside looking in. People saw her and YELLED…..UNCLEAN or TRAITOR or HUSSY or other words not suitable for a family gathering.
People saw Ruth’s lowered head and defeated composure and smugly thought, “well she deserves it, after all look at what she did….or her parents did….or her parents did….or her ancestors did.”
People looked upon Ruth and thought—-“thank goodness that’s not me.”
In this story, Ruth is the epitome of the outsider, the other, and we are the insiders, the chosen.
And yet….who is it that Jesus notices, who is it that Jesus praises, who is it that Jesus credits for her own healing? Ruth.
Was she healed because Jesus deemed her worthy?
No.
Was she healed because Jesus’s cloak held special powers?
No.
Was she healed because God decided she had suffered enough?
I highly doubt it.
Ruth was healed, according to Jesus, because of her faith.
Her. Faith.
She believed that if she could get to Jesus she would be healed. She did get to him but the destination wasn’t the cure.
The drive to get there was.
And what fueled that drive? Her faith.
My friends, ours is a noisy world, full of distractions. You listen to someone like me standing before you each week trying to give you the fuel to go out these doors and into this hurting world to make a difference; to give hope to those with hurting hearts and souls, to bring the proud, arrogant, dismissive and abusive up short. To lift the lowly, to preach and live peace. It’s not easy work—the preaching nor the living. It is easier to shrug our shoulders and say—I believe in God, I have faith, that’s good enough.
But is it?
Let’s look at our Gospel again.
Both Jairus and Ruth the woman with the hemorrhage had faith, they both believed that Jesus could heal. But their faith in Jesus wasn't enough. We are told they both—-at great sacrifice to themselves—-publicly reached out to Jesus, publicly proclaiming their faith in him.
We Episcopalians may be known as the “Frozen Chosen,” but that’s not how we are to live our faith. We’re to live our faith outwardly and openly, not afraid to speak our truth. How willing are we to live our faith boldly, to risk who we are and what we have for this faith? To live our faith as Ruth and Jairus did in our Gospel as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mathew Shepherd, the Philadelphia 11, the Stonewall people, and many more did and do? Out loud. Publicly. Profoundly. Noticeably.
[This past week was the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Some people find the triennial convention a waste of money and time, but it is where, every three years, we gather to hammer out how we will live our faith. We’re Episcopalians and we believe in speaking openly and honestly. We believe in disagreeing, we believe in feeling passionately and compromising faithfully. The arc toward God’s dream for us is a bumpy ride. But if we stick with it, inch by inch, step by step we move ahead. In Austin Texas, in 2018 I stood in front of the convention and testified about having all marriage rites available to all people who want to be married in the Episcopal Church. That means the Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage as found in the hardback version of the Book of Common Prayer as well as “I will Bless You and You will be a Blessing” marriage liturgy originally designed ONLY for same-sex couples. I stated that my wife Pete and I were married using a liturgy NOT available to all people in the church, that we were forbidden from using the liturgy in our prayer book, but that, 4 1/2 years later, when I buried my wife, we used the same liturgy we all use when we die. Was she unequal when we married, but somehow equal in death? 6 years after that testimony, our General Convention approved all marriage liturgies for all people. The arc of history and justice is long, slow, and bumpy, but when we live our faith loud and in public, like the woman with the bleeding and Jairus the official and a lowly priest from Western New York we live our faith in a way that makes Jesus smile and God breathes sighs of delight.]
Spend time with this reading from the Gospel this week. Consider yourself Jairus or Ruth. Instead of asking what Jesus would do, perhaps it is time to ask if we can do what both Jairus and Ruth did.
And then do it.
Let us pray:
Gracious and Loving God, our faith resides in you, but our faith is only activated when we live it, speak it, and model it. Embolden us to activate our faith in you in all that we do, wherever we go, and however long we need to do it. For if we but touch the hem of your garment, if we just allow your ever-loving hands to lay upon us, we will be made well. And, because we know you love it when we pray, we now say, Amen.
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Proper 8 B "Flash Mob " for the GRI June 30, 2024
Monday, June 10, 2024
Yr B 2024 Trinity Sunday through
At
it’s essence, faith is a mystery. How one decides to tirn their life
over to God as we experience God through Jesus Christ and the Holy
Spirit is at it’s simplest a deeply personal and private decision and at
it’s most comolicated a sense that without faith in the Holy and
Undivided Trinity: One God our existence is reduced to (to quote St.
Paul) a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal, signifying nothing….so when my
colleagues lament preaching on Trinity Sunday I stay silent…for
preaching on this wondefrul mystery of the Trinity is an honor, not a
burden.
Why has God decided to exprerss God’s Divine self in
three distinct, yet forever connected, ways? I wouldn’t presume to speak
for the Creator but I can speak about why the Trinity is something I
love rather than loathe. God as Creator tried—for THOUSANDS of years—to
communicate with us through prophets like Abraham, Moses, Isaiah,
Miriam, Deborah, Anna, John the Baptist. We didn’t get it, continuing to
forget about God the Creator, turning to false prophets and their false
gods. So…God took on human form—Jesus—to teach us through direct and
personal relationships: beginning with the original 12 disciples and
carrying all the way through to today with you and me. We, through the
vows we make at baptism, carry the message of God as given to us through
Jesus Christ to one another, both individually and corprorately through
this community of faith—Trinity itself, the GRI, the Partnership
dioceses and the wider Episcopal Church.
As we’ve heard the last
couple of weeks in our readings, Jesus couldn’t stick around in any
bodily/physical way for he knew that if He did, we wouldn’t do the work
of spreading the Good News far and wide….he knew that we’d sit at his
feet and watch him do it. So he left….BUT he left with the promise that
he would send us someone—an advocate, the third part of the Trinity to
enflame our souls, ingnite our hearts and loosen our tongues to spread
the news that we, in the name of Jesus Christ, love everyone,
everywhere, without exception. And we do this not only with our words,
but our actions, not only through our creeds, but also with our deeds.
Why
do we have a Triune—a three version— God? Because we—human beings—are a
complicated bunch and so our Divine source of life is expressed three
ways: As a supreme, unknowable ever creating God,; a tangible,
historical figure of a fully human and fully divine Christ who has felt
all that we have—joy, love, regret, fear, hope, anger, peace and
turnoil; and a we can’t see her, we can’t really describe her, but a
Spirit, an advocate, whom we feel deep in our soul, a being who urges us
to take risks we didn’t think we could and animates the very essence of
who we are.
The Trinity is a gift from a God who will do anything
and everything to get through to us. May we strive to always recive this
Trinity of Love, however, and whenever we can.
Amen.
Proper 4B
+I have a friend who is a priest in Chicago. One day I was at his church as he was preparing for a big parish event…as he was running around he KEPT muttering, “Jesus never had a parish, Jesus never had a parish.” At the time I wasn’t sure what that was all about but now, after being ordained for 17 years, I get it….sometimes the business of the church feels as if it’s overshadowing the business of God.
It’s true, Jesus didn’t have a church, nor did he have a denomination. Jesus simply had a message and some followers. But the message was revolutionary and his followers were growing, so he had to deal with the institutional faith of the day—the Temple and the temple authorities. Jesus may have been fully human and fully Divine, but even his Divine nature had to deal with church—or in this case temple--- politics.
In today’s Gospel those authorities were none too happy with Jesus. The specifics of the argument are a bit arcane; suffice it to say the authorities had one interpretation of the Jewish restrictions on activity during the sabbath while Jesus had a broader, wider encompassing view. The authorities were basing their opinion on human-made (although no doubt Divine inspired) law. Jesus was basing it on who God is, what God wants, and what God needs. You see, the Jewish people had their “law” handed down to them from Moses. Jesus’ followers had the requirements of God presented to them by God in the flesh,Jesus Christ.
Yeah, this is an argument the temple authorities are going to lose every single time.
The authorities had Divine law interpreted by human beings---complete with what humanity brings to the table—flaws and foibles—while Jesus had, well Jesus had the inside track…. Jesus had God. Jesus knew what it was God required of us. The authorities had nary a chance.
But even if Jesus wasn’t the Messiah, even if the authorities took up this same argument—-plucking grain to feed hungry people on the sabbath as some type of horrendous violation of Jewish law— they quite possibly would have lost the argument.
Why?
Because when religions fail to adapt to the reality of the world around them, they become irrelevant.
Yes, we are to take a day of rest. Working all the time is bad for our souls, failing to rest in the presence of God is not good for us, no question. However….grabbing an apple off a tree, a head of grain from a stalk, or even cooking a full meal for a starving person is not an insult to God, it is doing the work God gave us and Jesus taught us.
And just what is it that God requires of us, just what is it that God dreams for us, just what is it that God created us to be?
Creatures of Love. People who love one another. Without exception.
The law of Moses served a people in a particular time and a particular place, and then the time and the place and the circumstances changed. The Law worked until it didn’t.
We, Episcopal Christians in Western New York, know a little bit about stuff working until it not longer does. We know a thing or two about adapting to new circumstances and we know a thing or two about trying different things to accomplish that which we’ve always strived to accomplish: Peace on earth and goodwill to all, always. And forever.
When love adapts my friends. Love wins. Amen.
Proper 5B
Just how crazy was Jesus? Using the book of Mark as a resource, let’s do a little forensic psychology. Jesus doesn’t head to the temple to solicit the blessing of religious leaders before beginning His ministry. He heads to the river Jordan and into the clutches of a wild man. Jesus doesn’t look for the approval of the folks who are in charge before beginning, He goes out to encounter John and the Holy Spirit, and He hears a voice from heaven saying “You are my Son, whom I love.” How crazy is that?
After hearing the voice Jesus immediately is sent by the Spirit out into the desert where he meets evil and darkness head on with no weapons other than His faith in God and His faith in His ministry. How crazy is that?
Jesus heads to Galilee preaching that the kingdom of God has come near and it’s time to repent and believe the good news. He heads to the sea and calls 4 fisherman to follow him. At Capernaum Jesus teaches in the synagogue, amazing the people with His authority and drives out an impure spirit from one of His listeners. The people are amazed and word of Him begins to spread. At the home of Simon and Andrew the whole town gathers and Jesus healed diseases and drove out demons. How crazy is that?
A few days later Jesus is in a house packed to the gills— it’s so crowded that people open a hole in the roof to lower their paralyzed friend inside for Jesus to heal. Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven”, knowing that this will tick off their temple authorities who are witnessing the whole thing this will spark confrontation. How crazy is that?
The list of suspect behaviors goes on…Jesus doesn’t make a big deal out of fasting, a vital part of the Jewish faith. He allows the disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath, heals a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath, and impure spirits fall before him, proclaiming, “You’re the Son of God”. How crazy is all of that?
So, it’s no wonder that by today’s Gospel Jesus’ family is fired up, ready to take control of Him. Who is He to be preaching and teaching in synagogues instead of following in Joseph’s footsteps? Why isn’t He getting married and raising a family? He must be crazy to have gathered up this rag tag band of followers, He must be out of his mind to think He is curing the sick and banishing demons. He must be a bubble off level to be so intentional about infuriating the secular and religious leaders of the day. He must be nuts to think that He’s doing the will of God, showing us who God is and showing us what God would have us do.
There you have it, according to the norms of His times, according to His family, and according to the events recorded in Mark, our diagnosis is clear…Jesus is nuts!
And that’s a problem, isn’t it?. Jesus, our icon of how to be in right relationship with God is out of his mind. Does He expect us to be nuts too?
Yes. Because you have to be a little bit nuts to be a Christian, you have to be a little bit crazy to accept that you can make a difference. That one person, one kind act at a time, one loving thought at a time, one out of the norm action at a time can make a difference in this messed up world of ours. But it can. And it does.
If people think we’re crazy for believing in an all loving, all accepting, always ready to cheer us on God, so be it. Because we’re a bunch of people crazy enough to believe that God so loved the world, God will do anything to help us love it as much as our loving, life-giving and sometimes crazy making Savior does. And for that we can all say, Amen.
Monday, April 1, 2024
Easter Season beginning with the Second Day of Easter (Easter Day sermon included in Holy Week post) to Pentecost
Easter 2B
+Thomas gets a bum rap. Not that he didn’t doubt, but his doubting wasn’t unique—the other disciples doubted too. Doubting must be an important part of our Christian story because why else would we read this story EVERY SINGLE YEAR on the Second Sunday of the Easter season? Clearly our forebears realized that doubting isn’t as much the exception as the rule. And that doubting, while normal, is something to pay attention to.
So yeah, Thomas gets a bad rap with the whole doubting thing while, in truth, doubt isn’t a uniquely bad thing, it’s just a common human thing.
Doubt is a moment in time, a step in a process. A time of bewilderment, a time of question---doubt comes when things aren’t clear---when all the evidence isn’t yet in or all the evidence hasn’t crystallized in our brains yet. Doubt happens when all that we know to be—the order of our world---is shattered.
On several occassions in my life, I’ve had the painful task of informing someone of an unexpected death. The first response of most people to such shocking news is disbelief—“No that cannot be.” Or “How can that be?” It’s too hard to comprehend the horror, so we deny.
But it’s not only bad news that can be met with doubt, good news can be equally difficult to fathom.
Whether it’s finding out the surgery was a success, or you’ve gotten the job of your dreams----good news can take some time to sink in.
Doubt buys us time for joy to fully engage; or time to gird ourselves against the bad.
Doubt gives us time to catch up to the reality of our lives.
In these early days of the Easter season, we have some catching up to do.
So did the disciples.
The king they loved; they’d denied, the rulers they feared; they’d defied. It wasn’t a good time to be one of Jesus’ followers…so when they hear from Mary Magdalene that Jesus is alive do they run out looking for him?
No, paralyzed by their doubt, immobilized by their fear, stuck in their shame, they stay behind locked doors.
He’s alive?
Uh oh.
But Jesus, instead of “How could you?” says, “Peace Be With You.”
He accepts their failings and loves them.
He rejects their fear and loves them.
He loves them. In spite of themselves.
This is shocking.
It takes some time to get used to!
Even though they’d heard it hundreds of times before, even though we hear it, week in and week out, this simple message of love, peace and forgiveness is difficult to understand and to accept.
Thomas, along with the other disciples, needed to see the reality of Jesus’ resurrection before they could "get it." Their doubt wasn’t a lack of faith, it wasn’t that they didn’t believe, they just didn’t comprehend.
Thomas’ doubt bought him time to wrap his brain around all that had happened, so that, when he saw Jesus for himself he would, at least on some level, “get it.” Thomas’s doubt gave him the time to move into a greater understanding, leading him to proclaim, “My Lord and My God.” Thomas’ doubt led his faith to a place of understanding. Thomas, given time, Got It.
Today, the emotional roller coaster of Holy Week is over, we’ve proclaimed Christ risen, we’ve shouted Alleluia, we’ve rejoiced in the new light of Christ.
This astonishing realization of what God always does, is shocking and takes some getting used too.
So this morning we begin clearing doubt from our hearts and minds and embracing the Truth as given to us through Jesus Christ:
To go into the world seeking and serving Christ in everyone we meet…
To not rest until everyone, everywhere knows the Love that is God…
To not run from fear, but to enter it courageously… [like the CORE initiative…]
To not deny doubt, but embrace it for what it is and see what’s on the other side…
To forgive ourselves for what we’ve left undone while redoubling our efforts to do more…
To see the Risen One and to call out My Lord! My God! My hope! My Savior!
We don’t need to understand or even fully comprehend it, we just need to enter this resurrection life and see where it takes us! Alleluia and Amen. The 23rd Psalm. Most people know of it, many people know it by heart, and more than a handful of people I’ve walked with, through their final days, have been comforted by hearing it recited.
The 23rd Psalm is part of the fabric of many lives.
But…when was the last time you REALLY listened to it, interpreted it in your own words. Well, lucky you, I did some of my own interpreting this week:
“I follow God, God will fulfill all my needs... When I feel depleted God will refresh and renew me. Even when I take a wrong turn, God will lead me toward the right road. No matter what the challenge, no matter how dark the night seems, this God whom I follow will be with me so I won’t let my fear derail me. You will push me when I lag and you will catch me when I stray and when those who wish me ill come calling, You will be right there, sitting at the dinner table with me. My gifts and joys will overflow and as long as i keep letting God Lead me, I’ll be ok.”
If I follow God. If I let God lead me, I will be ok.
To me that sums up this psalm. But something very specific about the psalm kept niggling at me all week. It’s the second half of the first line: I shall not be in want.
Like most people I always read this line as, “God will make sure that I have what I need,” but it doesn’t say that. It says, as the rest of the psalm supports, “I will never be alone in whatever befalls me and that all that I need is within my reach.”
If I reach for it.
The good shepherd, as described here in Hebrew scripture, and as outlined in John’s gospel tells us that the Lord will lead us and the Lord will seek us, the Lord may even grab us by the scruff of the neck to bring us back into the fold, but nowhere are we told that the Good Shepherd will lock us into the fold. The Shepherd will look for us, long for us, and will lead us home. But the shepherd can’t keep us there. The Shepherd can’t keep us from wandering and getting lost.
All the shepherd can do is find us, it’s up to us to stay.
We get lost all the time. And Jesus pursues us, invites us, even prods us to come home.
But after we’re found, no one can keep us from leaving again.
Except us.
This is where the “I shall not want” comes in for me.
I may want for all sorts of things….I may want to lose 30 lbs, but just wanting that without exercising more and eating better won’t get me anywhere.
I may want every congregation in our dioceses to be whole and happy and thriving but there are congregations who simply won’t do the needed hard work .We all want a lot of things. But…
What we want is not the same as being in want.
Being in want, at its core, is being without hope, without recourse, without anything that’s needed to sustain life.
This is what the psalmist is telling us: when we turn our hearts, minds and souls over to God we’ll never be without that which we truly need: hope, faith and love.
God won’t put butts in the pews on Sunday morning, God won’t make Christianity regain the glory it held in the public’s mind back in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, but God does equip every person who allows God to walk with them through life, the security of verdant pastures and still waters. Our job is to allow ourselves to be led by God, when we do that, we will not be in want. Ever.
Amen.
Easter 3B
Our Gospel reading for today is from Luke which is odd—we're in Liturgical Year B which means the bulk of our Gospel readings are from Mark (in year A Matthew, B Mark and C Luke) but here we are smack dab in the middle of year B, three Sundays into the Easter season, and we’re reading from Luke. The why for this is pretty clear, the designers of the lectionary want us to hear as many resurrection stories as possible. They want us to hear that the disciples—Jesus’s closest friends—were confused, disbelieving, terrified, unsure of whether this was really Jesus alive again, or a figment of their imaginations.
I think we hear all these stories because we need to be reminded that we aren’t alone in how unbelievable this whole resurrection thing is.
It’s one thing for us to believe what we’ve been told, but for Jesus’s friends it was to believe what they’re seeing. It wasn’t easy… so Jesus does all that he can to share with his friends physical proof that he’s not a mirage, not a ghost. He uses actions like touching, feeling, cooking, eating to show that he is, indeed, the one who was killed and buried, back to life!
Jesus knows that we need to know in addition to believing. And to know is to do, so he shares a fish breakfast with the disciples in today’s reading; in other post-resurrection stories he has Thomas touch his wounds, has the travelers on the way to Emmaus share dinner with him where, when he breaks the bread, his follower’s eyes are opened.
So…how do we get to the place of knowing— of really knowing— that Jesus is our Savior, our hope, our salvation?
How do we know that this God in the flesh did indeed rise from the dead?
We can believe what we’ve been told, but how can we know?
By having proof.
For the disciples Jesus is able to do human things—breathe on them, eat with them, let them touch his wounds.
But what about us?
How do we reach that place of physical knowing that Jesus died, was buried and rose again to walk the earth?
I suppose the easy answer is—knowing doesn’t matter, belief does—“I don't need proof, I just believe.” And for those of you who can be satisfied with that, great!
I’m not one of those people.
I like the tangible.
So how do I (and others like me) find tangible proof of resurrected life?
Right here.
For me the proof of resurrected life is the power in the community of faith in such a resurrected one as we have here. Look around—-remember the pain that many of you have endured or are enduring. Think of the joys, the great gifts, the seemingly unbearable losses, all brought here and laid upon this altar and each other. We’ve shared so much in our lives: births, deaths, graduations and so on. Some of us who've only been part of this community for a short while may not have all that to share but you’d be hard pressed to convince me that you didn't feel the power of our shared lives when entering these doors.
The power of our experiences bind us, the hope for experiences yet to come bind us, the belief in the resurrected one bind us and the tangible experience of walking together through whatever comes is the real and physical evidence of a truly resurrected Son of God, who, through us and with us, creates a new world, one group of faithful folk at a time. That, my friends is believing AND it is knowing…And for that we say Amen and Alleluia!!!!!
Easter 4B
The 23rd Psalm. Most people know of it, many people know it by heart, and more than a handful of people I’ve walked with, through their final days, have been comforted by hearing it recited.
The 23rd Psalm is part of the fabric of many lives.
But…when was the last time you REALLY listened to it, interpreted it in your own words. Well, lucky you, I did some of my own interpreting this week:
“I follow God, God will fulfill all my needs... When I feel depleted God will refresh and renew me. Even when I take a wrong turn, God will lead me toward the right road. No matter what the challenge, no matter how dark the night seems, this God whom I follow will be with me so I won’t let my fear derail me. You will push me when I lag and you will catch me when I stray and when those who wish me ill come calling, You will be right there, sitting at the dinner table with me. My gifts and joys will overflow and as long as i keep letting God Lead me, I’ll be ok.”
If I follow God. If I let God lead me, I will be ok.
To me that sums up this psalm. But something very specific about the psalm kept niggling at me all week. It’s the second half of the first line: I shall not be in want.
Like most people I always read this line as, “God will make sure that I have what I need,” but it doesn’t say that. It says, as the rest of the psalm supports, “I will never be alone in whatever befalls me and that all that I need is within my reach.”
If I reach for it.
The good shepherd, as described here in Hebrew scripture, and as outlined in John’s gospel tells us that the Lord will lead us and the Lord will seek us, the Lord may even grab us by the scruff of the neck to bring us back into the fold, but nowhere are we told that the Good Shepherd will lock us into the fold. The Shepherd will look for us, long for us, and will lead us home. But the shepherd can’t keep us there. The Shepherd can’t keep us from wandering and getting lost.
All the shepherd can do is find us, it’s up to us to stay.
We get lost all the time. And Jesus pursues us, invites us, even prods us to come home.
But after we’re found, no one can keep us from leaving again.
Except us.
This is where the “I shall not want” comes in for me.
I may want for all sorts of things….I may want to lose 30 lbs, but just wanting that without exercising more and eating better won’t get me anywhere.
I may want every congregation in our dioceses to be whole and happy and thriving but there are congregations who simply won’t do the needed hard work .We all want a lot of things. But…
What we want is not the same as being in want.
Being in want, at its core, is being without hope, without recourse, without anything that’s needed to sustain life.
This is what the psalmist is telling us: when we turn our hearts, minds and souls over to God we’ll never be without that which we truly need: hope, faith and love.
God won’t put butts in the pews on Sunday morning, God won’t make Christianity regain the glory it held in the public’s mind back in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, but God does equip every person who allows God to walk with them through life, the security of verdant pastures and still waters. Our job is to allow ourselves to be led by God, when we do that, we will not be in want. Ever.
Amen.
Easter 5B
+Have you been pruned? My most powerful pruning came on November 9, 2017, the day my wife of five and a half years died.
We
thought we had 20/30 years to be together. We laughed at how long it
took for us to find each other…we had plans, hopes, dreams…we thought
we’d get old together.
But cancer took it all from us.
For just
about a year we walked the walk familiar to so many of us…treatments,
surgeries, new treatments, more surgeries…we just kept waiting for her
to get better. Once she was better we would do this and that, we’d get
on with our lives.
But that’s not how it worked out.
Suddenly, after a promising report from the oncologist and a new treatment plan to hold the cancer at bay, she died.
I
felt like my legs had been cut off from me. My heart in a million
pieces, I was wracked with grief, exhausted, terrified, angry, lonely,
lost. I couldn’t pray, at times I couldn’t breathe.
But, I carried on.
Somehow, someway I got out of bed and did what needed to be done.
I learned how to be alone… by realizing that I wasn’t.
I asked for help, reached out, and accepted others reaching in.
I heal by feeling the pain, asking for help, sharing my grief.
By abiding in others and letting others abide in me. Including and especially God.
Jesus says abide in me as I abide in my father.
Endure with me as I endure you.
Hold onto me while I hold onto you
Love me while I love you.
Abiding,
my friends, is taking up residence with another’s sorrows and joys and
all that’s in between. Abiding is holding fast to another when your own
branch has been cut out from under you.
Abiding is being there when the pruning feels too severe, the growth too painful and the living too hard.
Abiding is being strong for others who are feeling weak. And vice versa.
Abiding
is being a community. Abiding is taking the example of God being within
Jesus, bearing all things that Jesus bore and doing it, right here.
Abiding is being the face of God to each other.
Abiding allows us to prune the vines of our own lives. To know what to hold onto and what to let go of.
Abiding helps us survive being pruned.
I was pruned when Pete died.
You’ve
been pruned through your individual losses, some we know about others
we don’t, as well as the losses you’ve experienced as and in community.
But here we are. Upright. Breathing and ready to keep on living.
How? Why?
Because
God abides in us and we abide in God. Because God cries with us, rails
with us, comforts us, and challenges us. Because God is in us and we’re
in God.
You don’t look like you did before this pruning, you don’t
think like you did. You don’t like all that’s happened, and you may
wonder about what will be, but together you’ve abided in love, light and
hope, even when the days seem dark, the love painful, and the hope
fleeting.
This is life…we have joys and sorrows…and in
between we have regular old life. The lesson of our readings is that
pruning happens and that pruning, no matter how painful, no matter how
much we pray it didn’t happen, does lead to growth, change, and new
life. The journey is arduous, the path not always straight, the way
often confusing but, as long as we abide in one another and in God
through Jesus Christ, we’ll survive the challenges and the worry.
Why? Because, as John says in today’s epistle: “God is Love, and those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them.”
God is with us in the pruning, the growth, and the abiding. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Easter 6 B
Today’s readings are full of talk about commandments. Following God’s commandments, according to the author of the Letter of John, is how we show God our love. And in the Gospel, Jesus gives us a new commandment—to love one another as he has loved us. And that the disciples are his friends if they obey his command.
I’m not sure this is the greatest way to making friends, Jesus. I’ve never made a friend by commanding someone. It reminds me of Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory—Sheldon’s completely clueless about interpersonal relationships so when Sheldon makes demands and directs commands towards those he calls friends, it makes sense to us, but for Jesus to do it? He seems a little more socially competent than that doesn’t he?
So what’s with this command to love others otherwise we can’t be his friend or follower?
Well, as is often the case with scripture, it’s a translation issue. The Greek word translated to commandment in both our Letter of John and the Gospel of John is “entola.” There isn’t a good direct English translation for “entola,” … it means to teach, to direct one to follow an example. Jesus wants us to do as he’s done and at this stage of his life—the Gospel today is taken from that four chapter section of John called Jesus’s Farewell Discourse—— Jesus is pressured, anxious to have the disciples learn as much as they can as quickly as possible. Put in that context, the “command” language makes a little more sense to me—when feeling urgent our language can sound more like a command than a teaching, a desire to emulate, or a direction. It’s less, turn here and more TURN HERE!!!!
I like to think that I understand a little of Jesus’s mood—-when one has been the recipient of much Love it’s painful to see doubt, fear, confusion all fuse into the intolerance and hate which seems to be overpowering our daily lives.
Today is our Thanksgiving in May dinner. Why do we do this? To show others love and to offer thanks for all the love we have received. To me, the Thanksgiving in May event is Loving others as we ourselves have been loved, on a plate! It’s the perfect date for this event because 45 years ago today someone I had the privilege of loving and—more importantly—-being loved by, was born. My nephew, John. Born too soon and too quickly John was what we used to call a “blue baby.” Diagnosed at 3 years old with atypical cerebral palsy his wondrous heart and spirit trapped in an uncooperative and painfully crooked body did not sway his loving countenance. He couldn’t walk and he couldn’t talk. But man oh man could he communicate. And what did he communicate, what did he exude at all times and in all things? Love. When it came to following commandments John got this “Love one another as I have loved you” part down pat. On the day John drew his last breath I know that as he ran to outstretched arms of our Lord, Jesus exclaimed, “You did it John, you got it, you Loved as I loved you!”
When we accept love is it is so easier to love back —- I learned love from John. He loved so much and so well there was nothing to do but love.
May we —in all things and at all times—accept the love of others and love in return. Not because we’re commanded to, but because when we’re loved, how can we NOT? Amen.
And Johnzo? Happy birthday. I loved being loved by you.
Easter 7B/Sunday after Ascension
The quick answer is that I have no idea, but the more lengthy answer is this: I think Jesus walked the earth for a while after his resurrection and then physically and visibly “left,” for a very good reason. Us.
The resurrection of Jesus, while the major part of our Christian faith, can be a little tough to fathom... And yet, at least for me, I know it to be absolutely true. But what if I’d actually known the man? What if I was a contemporary of Jesus? What if I’d lived in 1st century Palestine and counted Jesus as one of my friends? What if I saw him take his final breath, saw his body removed from the cross and laid in a tomb. What if, a few days later, that same very dead friend calls me by name, places my hand in his wounds, joins me for a fish breakfast and preaches one more sermon?
How does one deal with it? Think about how utterly FREAKED out you’d be. Of course you’d like to think you’d be grateful, joyful and happy. But at first I think most of us would have FREAKED out.
So, I think I get why we have this span of time---40 days to be precise---between Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning and the Ascension of Christ into heaven. We need some time to adjust.[1]So I believe the 40 days were, in many respects, a “do-over” for the apostles. They, with a resurrected Jesus by their side, get to revisit all the lessons he’d taught them before his death. Once again, they get to see that all things are possible through Him. they get to understand that all the crazy mind blowing things he said and did weren’t side-shows, they weren’t the work of a mad man. They were the work of a Savior, they were the work of a man sent by God, they were the work of God made human. They were the opening chords of a chorus of a new life. The apostles then and we now were granted some time to realize that God’s not kidding: Death is dead, darkness is defeated, loss is overturned, hate will not win, hope does live and God’s kingdom is a place where there is no longer Jew or Greek, Male or female, black white or brown, gay, straight, trans, rich, poor, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist or agnostic.
God’s not kidding.
But still, why the spectacle of ascending into heaven? Couldn’t Jesus just have said good bye and disappeared? Why the show?
Well, I don’t think Jesus ever did anything without a very good reason so we need to consider why a bodily, visible Ascension was necessary.
I think what Jesus is saying is, “I have to go, and I know that’s going to hurt you…it’s going to hurt me….but the reality is that if I didn’t go, you wouldn’t grow to be the people I know you can be. If I don’t go you won’t pick up the work you are called to do.”
When Jesus left he left his work behind for us to continue.
Are we?
How are we doing Jesus’s work here at St James, in the GRI, in the partnership dioceses? How are we doing that around our dinner table, in our families, neighborhoods, towns, regions? It’s now our work. How are we doing it?
It’s something to think about and if there is something we should be doing at St James’s—speak up. For discerning the work around us, is every bit as important as doing the work.
May we take up that work and do it with joy and praise.
Amen and Alleluia.
It means that Jesus’s departure isn’t absence. It’s freeing the spirit from her confines within Jesus to spread among and through us so that we all become clothed with the power of what our Presiding Bishop calls Love. The Holy Spirit is fueled by and through community and the Love which permeates through that community.
This is why we baptize within the context of the principal weekly service of the church. It’s why I’ll ask if y’all will do all in your power to support Tommy in his life in Christ? It’s why we all turn around and witness the action of sprinkling his head with water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It’s why we are witnesses of Tommy being sealed with the oil of chrism, an oil only used at this liturgy and at the anointing of a body at death—- because today we celebrate what all of us already know just by being around Tommy— he is sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.
Just like we are. Just like his sisters, parents, godparents. Just like you and just like me. On this day we celebrate that the Holy Spirit is not a gift reserved for the few, but it is the gift promised to all. It is a gift that makes us risk things we never thought we would, it’s the gift that accompanies us as we endure things we thought impossible to endure, it’s the gift that enlivens us as a community of faith to show Tommy and all our kids within these walls and all the children of God outside of these walls that they are beloved of God.
Beloved— not tolerated, not dismissed, not rejected, not hated, not judged, not gossiped about but beloved. By God, By Jesus, By the Holy Spirit and by each and everyone of us here. If there are any people here this day whose love for Tommy or for anyone here is dependent on him (or any of us) acting a certain way, loving a certain way, living a certain way then I will pray for you as I escort you out of our community. For we are a tolerant bunch but we will never tolerate conditional love. never.
Tommy is going to be whomever it is God calls him to be and we—- all of us here and all of us yet to come—will be cheering him on, loving him as we ourselves are loved.
The disciples asked, what does this mean? I say what it means is that Tommy is beloved by us and by God. Always and forever.
Now… because it’s Tommy’s seventh birthday today AS WELL as his baptismal day—- let’s get on with it, shall we?
Alleluia Christ is Risen, the Lord is Risen Indeed. Alleluia. And Amen.
Friday, March 29, 2024
Holy Week 2024
Palm/Passion Sunday, Trinity Warsaw
Good Morning friends.
This is a day full of extreme emotions. The liturgy speaks for itself, to me there are two things to remember about the Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday.
First,
When Jesus enters Jerusalem, the people are still expecting a King who will overthrow the Empire, and they are cheering Jesus on to mock the Roman pageantry of the day. Most of his followers thought that Rome would be de-throned immediately. Their rejoicing was all about revenge on Rome—only later did the triumphal entry take on today's flavor ---cheering even though Rome would think they "won" in a few short days. We cheer because we know that no earthly power or principality will ever defeat the Love of God, no matter how dark the night of our circumstance may seem.
Secondly,
When we cry out, "Crucify Him," when Peter says, "I do not know the man," we are reminded that the power of our faith must stay stronger than all the powers and principalities of this day, of our time. When you see memes and posters and bumper stickers that say, "That Love everybody thing? I really mean it," it's directed toward you and me. When we gossip about others, when we judge others, when we sit on our hands while injustice roils around us, when we keep our mouths shut when vitriol is spewed around us, when we let hate get the last word, we are screaming "Crucify Him," we’re declaring "I don't know the man." We are who we are on our best days, yes, but we are also who we are on our worst. The Passion shows us both. The Passion isn't just a recounting of what happened then, it is a narrative of what is happening now. We are all complicit and we are all forgiven, but when we are forgiven we are left with this charge: Go and sin no more. Go and try harder. Go and do better.
This isn't easy stuff, but it is necessary.
I urge you to take the walk of this Holy Week together. It is powerful to walk through the week and then, on Easter Day shout, "The Lord is Risen, Indeed."
Blessings on our journey. Amen.
***********************************************************************************
Holy Wednesday
March 27,2024 5:00 pm in the St. Michael Chapel
Meditations on the Life of Christ
Welcome to St. James!
In the chapel at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Buffalo, hang a series of original French Lithographs depicting the life of Christ. While serving at Good Shepherd I designed this service so that we could appreciate the beauty of the lithographs. The meditations that I share are all original writings of mine, written from the perspective of Mary and then Jesus and then Mary. The scripture readings are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible. The songs I play are a series of songs I have used in my own meditations over the years. This is a service that I give as a gift to you, please receive it as such. Thanks for being here.
Holy
Wednesday Meditations on the Life of Christ
The Nativity
Luke
2:1-7
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should
be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius
was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph
also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David
called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.
He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was
expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her
child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of
cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.
Meditation
It was cold, a damp cut through to the bone type of cold that happens in this
part of the world at night. Everything hurt so much that I didn’t even realize
the time had come until it was quite urgent. And so we bedded down in the
stable section of the inn. Back among the sheep and the goats, we tied our
donkey and the Boy was born amidst the hay and the dung and the animals. I guess
you could say he came in the normal way but nothing has felt normal about this
at all. There’s something special, something different coursing through this
most normal of events: birth.
I’m so very tired. He’s been fed. I will rest before we begin our return
journey.
Music
Annie Lennox, In the Bleak Midwinter
The
Presentation
Luke 2:25-35
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
“Master,
now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for the revelation to the gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
And
the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined
for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be
opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will
pierce your own soul, too.”
Meditation
A return to a sense of normal, that’s all I’ve been longing for since the
angel’s visit over 10 months ago. When Joseph and I took Jesus up to the temple
for the rites of purification and thanksgiving, after we bought the offering of
turtle doves, we entered the Temple with the hundreds of others there that day.
Joseph didn’t seem alarmed when ol’ Simeon came running over, but I held the
boy a little closer, a little tighter. And then I saw his eyes-- the wise and
wonderful, caring and loving, excited and rejoicing eyes of Simeon-- the oldest
priest around. He was powered by something more, different, beyond
understanding. He truly was a man of God. His message was one of hope and
warning. I can’t shake his words: “this child is destined to change the
fortunes of Israel forever and you, dear mother, your heart will be pierced.”
I can’t tell you what that means, but on some level, I know and I am scared.
Music
Taize Nunc dimittis
The
Boy Jesus Teaching in the Temple
Luke 2: 39-51
When they’d finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
Meditation
These
trips down to Jerusalem for Passover can be fun. Our travelling party is quite large,
and we get to catch up with family and friends, unencumbered by daily tasks. To
be honest, it’s also break for us young mothers. The kids weave in and out of
our caravan, playing with cousins, discovering new friends and taking in the
adventure of travel, all the while being watched over by aunts and uncles,
older cousins and trusted friends. Now, to your modern ears, losing track of a
12 year old for an entire day may seem horrible, but it’s easier than you may
think. The true horror was the realization that he was gone. How would we ever
find him?!
It was then that Simeon’s warning really stung. Could it be that, after a short
twelve years he was gone?
Yes.
Even though we found him, and he was fine, something within him had changed.
And something within me, was awakened with His words: “Why were you searching
for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Yes, of course,
he was not ours to keep any longer. And my heart was, indeed, pierced.
Music
Westminster
Cathedral “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”
The
Baptism of Christ
Mark 1: 9-11
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in
the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens
torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Meditation
The water
was muddy and warm.
John’s hand on the base of my neck, strong.
John has this way of keeping you under the water long enough for panic to set
in. You find yourself longing for breath and light and then, suddenly you’re
thrust up from the deep, drenched to the bone, grateful beyond words for air
and somehow, some way changed.
And so it was for me.
I barely had time to realize what had just happened when everyone else seemed
to fall away and I was there alone, knee deep in the Jordan, with a presence
beyond comprehension sending me--laying upon me—grace blessing.
I am God’s Beloved.
I am God’s Beloved.
I am God’s Beloved.
I am. I am. I am.
Music
“Come
Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
Become Fishers of People
Matthew
4:18-22
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishers. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Meditation
We need each other. We were built for community.
Once I rose from those muddy waters I experienced a profound and utter
loneliness. God, my Divine and Loving Parent, my Abba, was no where to be
found. I’m sure, I KNOW God was not gone, I just lost track, got too scared,
too closed up, too human, to hear God’s words, to feel the Divine touch. It was
there, in the middle of the desert mirages, in the darkness of those long
nights that I discovered, that I realized, that I believed, that I KNEW we need
each other. And so I began my search.
I began to fish.
For those who would share.
Those who would listen.
Those who would challenge.
Those who would laugh.
Cry.
Shout.
Whisper.
Hope.
Dream.
Despair.
Rejoice.
I searched for those who would Follow Me.
Fishers for People. Each and Everyone.
Music
God never sleeps: Will You Come and Follow Me
The
Ministry
John 6:2-14
A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing
for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw
a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy
bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew
what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not
buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five
barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus
said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the
place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the
loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were
seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he
told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be
lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley
loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the
people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the
prophet who is to come into the world.”
Meditation
Feed the hungry.
Clothe the naked.
Touch the untouchable
Find the Lost
Free the prisoners
Beat your swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks
Let justice roll like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.
Is my message that confusing, is my intent that opaque?
Feed.
Clothe.
Love.
And do it all in peace.
Music
Imagine, John Lennon
The
Ending: Arrival in Jerusalem
Mark 11:1-11a
When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount
of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village
ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find tied there a colt
that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why
are you doing this?’ just say this: ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back
here immediately.’ ” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside
in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them,
“What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said, and
they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw
their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the
road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then
those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple, and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Meditation
There it is.
Jerusalem. The journey is ending here. Someway. Somehow.
It will end.
Or perhaps begin.
The walk into the city center is long, steep and foreboding.
The crowds are confused.
They seek a king, but they want a ruler.
They seek justice, but they want vengeance
They seek peace, but at what cost?
I’m not their king
I’m not their ruler
I’m not their answer.
I know it.
They’ll be so disappointed.
Angry.
Lost.
Some say they don’t know how to love me.
Sometimes, I don’t know how to love them.
Music
I Don’t Know How to Love Him, Sinead O’Connor
We’re on the cusp of the tridduum, the most heartbreaking and sacred three
days of the year, where we learn that love is confusing, painful, curious and
absolutely necessary.
Welcome to these days, where the humanity of Jesus is laid bare for all to see.
Welcome to these days, where our faith is challenged, our hearts break and we
emerge, at the last day, renewed, refreshed and restored.
The journey is picking up steam. Join us.
For now, sit quietly if you wish
Flee quickly if you must.
But carry this with you: God so loved US that God came to live among us, to
understand us, to embrace us and ultimately, to be us.
Go in Peace.
Music
Taize, My Peace
****************************
Good Friday: Meditation on the Seventh word at St. Philip's Church, Buffalo
Into your hands I commit my spirit
Lutheran Pastor, author and all around Theological spitfire, Nadia Bolz Weber is involved in prison ministry. As part of this ministry last year she presented the Last Seven Words to the incarcerated men at the facility. She asked them to respond/translate into their own words, each of the 7 words. After they’d written their responses on newsprint paper she packed them up and put them away… Until this week.
This past Monday Nadia shared these with the world. You can find them on her blog called, The Corners. They “translated” all seven of the Last Words, let me share the responses to the seventh:
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit
The first response was
“Father I am trying to turn myself into your hands”
How often, if ever, have we said to our God: I am trying here, Lord. I’m trying to give myself over to you. Completely. I’m not there yet, but I’m trying. What honesty from this responder. He knows the truth—- we intend to give ourselves over but we aren’t very successful. We promise to love everyone, everywhere, no exceptions….until there is that one person— that one person who doesn’t look like you, vote like you, pray like you, love like you, live like you….or they have hurt you. Deeply and profoundly hurt you. Then that turning ourselves completely into the hands of the Divine? That becomes more difficult doesn’t it. I commend this response of “Father I am trying to turn myself into your hands” to you. The honesty is sacred.
Another response was:
“I rebuke all other spirits except yours, Lord”
Rebuke is a strong word, one Jesus used when casting out evil spirits. This writer acknowledges that we have so many competing spirits in our lives besides God’s. We have the spirit of consumerism, trying to fill our lives with stuff…a way of insulating ourselves from our reality. A way to numb ourselves against pain, hurt, anger. So many of us have used the spirit of alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling to forget ourselves, distract ourselves, negatively “comfort” ourselves. Others of us engage in such fear that we use the spirit of isolating ourselves to avoid the true Spirit of God. We., as this writer says, should rebuke those distractions so that we can connect with our true selves , our innermost selves and then— after sending those fake spirits packing—-turn all of who we truly are over to the spirit of the Living and Loving God.
Rebuke the distraction, embrace the honesty of the One True Spirit! I thank this author for his image of rebuking all others except God.
A third responder offers this response:
“Through your guidance I can be free”
This response is so practical it actually startles me. Through your guidance, I can be free. While the incarcerated individual may be speaking quite literally, sure that his release from prison will only come by following the way of Jesus, how true is this for us…all of us, regardless of our circumstance? By following the teachings of Jesus Christ, by adhering to his mandate to love others as we are ourselves are loved, we are set free. All the bondage of this life is loosened and we are free. Completely free. Through the guidance of the God whose love surpasses our understanding we. will. be. free.
Thank you, author of this response for such a direct roadmap to being unfettered.
The next response literally takes my breath away:
“Father, take my spirit as they take my life”
Nadia didn’t share wether this man was on death row and was speaking literally or not and I don’t think it matters….this man will not let anyone but God have his spirit…they can take his life, but his Spirit is his to offer and he has chosen to offer it to God. The dignity of his repossessed is powerful—- the Spirit cannot be taken from him unwillingly…it may be the only control he has, it may be the last thing he possesses….and he is offering it only to God.
Father take my spirit as they take my life…..my friends, the circumstances of our lives can be challenging, but remember our spirit is ours to give, don’t give it Willy hilly, but thoughtfully, intentionally, hopefully. The ravages of this world may eat away at us, but the Spirit? That is God’s. It always has been and it always will.
“Father, into my heart you’ve committed your spirit”
This final response with it’s passive language, may be the most powerful of all! This writer doesn’t presume to have any influence over his spirit but he is very aware that God’s Spirit is within him.
Do we realize this, do we know that God is already embedded in our hearts and that our problem is that we cover it up, deny it, ignore, refuse it? Do we realize that we don’t do a darn thing to earn God’s presence in our lives, that our entire faith journey may indeed simply come down to stripping away all of our delusions of power and influence and finally, at the last, accept and honor the fact that God’s Spirit has already been and will always be laid upon us where we’ve all been too stubborn to look?
My friends, on this day Jesus commits his spirit to God, shedding his mortal coil and returning to the eternal existence of light and love from whence he came. Weep not for our Lord, he has returned to where he has always been. Weep instead for us who work so hard to refuse his teachings and his way, the way of perfect love, given to us freely and abundantly. Today and always. Pray fervently that those who seek to move through life intimidating others, seeking revenge and caring only for their own material gain will be released from their bondage of greed and hate, fear and self-loathing and commit themselves to the way of the cross which in the greatest juxtaposition of all time, is the way of love.
Father into your hands we commit ourselves, now and forever, we pray by saying :Amen.
*****************************************************
Holy Saturday
The thing about Holy Saturday is that it’s quiet, dark and lonely, this liturgy we’re in the middle of is short, the liturgical options few, and the Biblical references? Ostensibly nil.
But just because we don’t have an action-filled passion story or a triumphal march into Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosanna!” doesn’t mean this day isn’t poignant and powerful.
It’s just not a public thing.
This is a day of intimacy which lies beyond our reach. It’s between God and Jesus.
As Jesus lays in the tomb what was happening? Was he in the sleep of early death? Was in conversation with God? Did he enter the perceived fires of hell to relaese the captives? Or was he in a dark void of nothingness?
We. Don’t. Know.
We don’t know so we tend to ignore this day, it’s like halftime at a football game or intermission at a play. We re-group, use the bathroom, grab a snack, and get ready for the penultimate Act II.
But what if, instead of distracting ourselves, what if, instead of kicking around setting up Easter baskets and prepping for Easter Brunch, we sat in the “we don’t know-ness.’ What if we sat in the awful unknowing and let ourselves feel it?
Tomorrow (or later tonight at the Vigil in Warsaw) we will proclaim He is Risen!! But just when was Jesus raised? Just how was he raised? Just when did he leave the tomb, just when did God re-animate Jesus…we proclaim the resurrection at sunset or at sunrise but we don’t know when or how it happened. We just know that it did. Somehow and Someway.
And right there my friends is the mystery of God’s Love, eternal life, and Easter as a whole. We have no idea how this happened, all we know is that yesterday afternoon Jesus was most definitely dead in the human sense of the word, and that tomorrow he will most definitely be alive.
But what about today?
Well, today is a day of deep and profound intimacy between “father” and son, between Creator and Redeemer, between Abba and Beloved, between God and Jesus.
An intimacy that is not ours to witness, but is ours to marvel at.
For God’s Love is so immense that we trust, on this day of dark and deep absence for us, that there was a day of bright and profound oneness between the two or three (because clearly the Holy Spirit has a role in this whole thing) who are part of The Whole. The Godhead. The Holy and Undivided Trinity.
All we can do is wonder, appreciate, marvel, and wait.
Welcome to the Holy Sacred Silence of this Day. Where so much happens and yet for us, nothing does. Or maybe evreything does. We do not know.
The Mystery is amazing and baffling.
The Wonder is a gift, and the Waiting? Sacred. Amen.
****with many thanks to Barbara Brown Taylor and her essay Learning to Wait in the Dark, 2014 as accessed through:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/learning-to-wait-in-the-dark_b_5175191
**********************************************************
Easter Day Sunrise Prayer service meditation
“At the tomb, the angel tell Mary and the others:
Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.”
He has been raised he is not here!
Alleluia My friends, He is Risen!
The Lord is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!
Let us pray:
God of the mundane and the miraculous, Creator of the world, we offer you thanks for the end to our Lenten fast through the amazing resurrection of your Son, of Savior Jesus Christ. As the sun rises in the east we glorify you and share in songs of endless praise: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Hosanna in the Highest Heaven. The strife is over, the battle, won.
May this Paschal miracle nourish us to live lives of hope and light, love and forgivenss, glory and joy, now and forever, Amen.
Remember please always remember: Do not be alarmed, he has been raised. For you and for me, for everyone, everywhere, always: He has been Raised!
Alleulia, Christ our Passover lives, let us always keep the feast, alleluia!
**************************************************************
Easter Vigil and Easter Day
+As I walked around the church building this morning and as we lit the new fire, people drove by on Main Street and I wonder, how many of them thought, those people still believe that nonsense? Not unlike the response the male apostles gave Mary Magdalene in Luke’s resuurection account when they considered it an idle tale. No doubt some of you here today wondered why 20 or so of us walked through each day in Holy Week in prayer and remembrance.
After all, we do know how the story ends don’t we? Why do we go though this every year? Besides the larger question of who would believe that one could be dead, their body placed in a tomb that is then sealed and then they rise to live again…why do we go through it? Why don’t we just skip to the end?
Because my friends:
We forget, God remembers. We stray, God remains steady. We change, God doesn’t.
Are we the same as we were last year at Easter? Do we even remember last Easter?
Our lives change, our circumstances vary, our experiences take us to new places all the time and by remembering the lessons of Holy Week, we’re better equipped to deal with the peaks and valleys of life.
What does the journey from Bethany to Jerusalem, from Caiphas' prison to the hill at Calvary, from denial to doubt, from cross to tomb, from the death of Jesus back to life again, teach us?
Well, at risk of telling what some may find an idle tale, this is what Holy Week taught me this year:
Palm Sunday:
Triumph has different meanings. I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect when Jesus marched into Jerusalem. No doubt many of the disciples thought Jesus would topple the civic and religious structures of the day. I’m not sure any of them thought victory could come from the cross and the tomb.
We can’t expect that the victory of life will always look how we think it should. Sometimes victory comes swaddled in rags, born in a barn and killed like a common criminal.
Maundy Thursday.
It’s important to take time for fellowship. Sit with family and friends—break bread together. The bonds formed over the dinner table are fierce and will hold, come what may. Sometimes, words aren’t needed. Sometimes those we love simply need us to sit with them, to bear witness to the pain they’re enduring. My friends, never underestimate the power of your presence.
Good Friday:
There will be times when our beliefs will be challenged, when we'll be tempted to deny what we believe to be true and right because it’s not popular or it’s too risky to stand up for what we believe. Please, stand up for what is right as best you can, and when you falter-- and we all falter-- remember that God stands at the ready, waiting for all of us to come back to the home of God, where forgiveness always reigns.
Holy Saturday.
Where’s God?
There are days when we feel utterly alone and bereft. Know that deep within that sadness, at the very bottom of the well of loneliness there’s a small, still voice weeping with us and for us, sharing in our pain. You may not feel it, but know that it’s there and that you can count on it because it has walked the journey with you, has felt the pain you feel and has never, and won’t ever, leave your side.
None of us is ever alone, no matter what.
Easter—the Resurrection—
As the worry and pain of our life becomes unbearable, as the last straw is drawn and all we can do is weep at the tomb of what we hoped would be, there’s a light, a turn of fortune, a renewed sense of hope and purpose. How this happens is mystery, why this happens is not; for the weight of worry is carried away by the man Mary Magdalene calls Rabbi, Mary the mother calls her boy, God the father calls Beloved and the one we call Jesus.
As soon as we are willing to let it go, our Savior will take it.
The journey of Holy Week, is the journey of our lives---we’ll have ups and downs. We'll have our share of Easter joys and Good Friday losses. But---and this is the most important lesson any of us can take from our Christian journey:
Holy Week always ends in Easter, Darkness always gives way to light, and evil always loses out to grace and truth and love. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia ---The Lord is Risen Indeed!+